Treasure Hunting Vacations For Diamonds

Crater of Diamonds

Imagine the excitement of walking along and finding a beautiful gleaming diamond right there on the ground just waiting for you to pick it up!

Several raw Diamonds found at the Crater Of Diamonds

Guess what, a place like that actually does exist; Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas has thirty-seven acres of diamond producing fields. This is the only site in the world where diamonds are regularly found and is open to the public.

Best of all, if you find it you keep it no questions asked, the folks that work at the park not only will help you identify what you find and confirm if it’s a diamond, but if it is an actual diamond they will issue you a certificate of authenticity, all for free.

What’s that, how many diamonds can you really find in a place like that, well in 2007, over 1000 were found by visitors to the park. The biggest one ever found weighed in at over 40 carats in 1927.

So you’re saying, “but that was a long time ago, all the big ones must all be gone by now”, well since 1980 eleven diamonds have been found that weighed over six carats, and the most recent was in 2006.

Mining at the Crater of Diamonds

Of course you’re thinking it can’t be as easy as just walking around and finding one sitting there just waiting for you. Well actually it can be, throughout the year, at random times roughly once a month, the area is tilled to bring new stuff to the top.

The area is plowed several times a year to bring new soil to the top

Also if you’re lucky enough to get there after a little rain shower, those little diamonds may be just sitting there, all nice and clean gleaming in the sun waiting for you to discover them.

Of course most who come to the Crater of Diamonds want to dig at least a little, if you’re in this group you can rent all the equipment you may need from the park or you can bring your own.

You can bring any kind of digging equipment you what as long as it does not include a motor, battery, or wheels. Most people dig only a foot deep or so, but some of the regulars will dig very big holes. As long as it’s done by hand and it’s safe you won’t have a problem.

Equipment You May Need to Find Your Own Diamonds

Now you might be wondering what equipment might I need, well here are a few things you may want to have on your list:

-Kneepads
-Box Screen Set (to help filter your dirt, different sizes may be best)
-5 Gallon bucket (to help with you screening)
-Small hand shovel (try to get one that is easy to use while kneeling)
-Rock hammer (useful if you plan on just digging a little or a lot)

After you’ve found one of those huge diamonds you may want the stop by the Diamond Springs Water Park, to wash off the dirt and refresh yourself. This is almost 15,000 square feet of water park fun. The water park is open May thru September, call for exact days and times.

How to Get to The Crater of Diamonds

Crater of Diamonds is open every day except, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day. Their hours are 8am-8pm Memorial Day to Labor Day, and 8am-5pm Labor Day to Memorial Day.

To visit the park you will need to fly into Hot Springs, AR. You’ll want to rent a car due to the fact that this airport is just over 40 miles away from the park. Also you can set up a hotel reservation at one of the many hotels in Murfreesboro.